Parking charges are being slashed in Denbigh after businesses complained a 400% hike in fees was turning it into a ghost town.

In April, video footage emerged of a deserted car park on Vale Street after Denbighshire Council bumped the prices up from 25p to an hour to £1.

Now the local authority has done a u-turn after “listening to concerns” and plan to reduce the rate to £1 for two hours.

They are working with Denbigh Business Group and Denbigh Town Council to slash the charges in two of the busiest shopper’s car parks.

A hike in fees has been blamed for leaving Denbigh's Vale Street car park deserted

It comes after Mark Young, owner of Denbigh Chocolate Shop filmed a video of the empty site at 11am one Friday, after traders reported not having a single customer all morning.

Councillor David Smith, cabinet member for the public realm, said: “Over the past few weeks, Denbighshire Council and Denbigh Town Council have been working closely together to monitor the impact of the parking charge increase.

“Having looked at the particular circumstances in Denbigh, we were able to make some changes and the Town Council have also stepped in to subsidise a further reduction in parking charges.

Read More

“We are also pleased to announce that from the September 1, the parking charges in Factory Ward car park will change to long stay car park rates, meaning that the cost to park will be reduced by up to half.”

But Mark Young said: “I welcome the u-turn by Denbighshire but the reality is, it’s taken five months to sort out which is a long time for a small business to suffer.

“This decision was taken by unelected officers which is anti democracy in action. It should never happen again and they must always seek to work with the businesses and communities they serve.”

The reduced long stay charges will be £1.50 for three hours and an all-day parking cost of £3.50.

The current 30 minute and one hour tariffs will remain the same at 30p for 30 minutes and £1 for one hour.